What’s on TV?

What’s on TV?

Just when I thought TV was dead and all the stories that could have been told have been put to bed, a flurry of new serials landed on my lap. Yes, discovering new TV series is certainly fun. Here’s a quick run-down of those that are interesting me these days:

Raising Hope: Jimmy Chance is a lovable but useless 23-year-old. He accidentally knocks up a serial killer who murders her boyfriends. When she is executed in prison, Jimmy ends up with a six-month old baby. Instant fatherhood transforms his life and the life of his dysfunctional but equally lovable family. This comprises Jimmy’s parents (who, incidentally, had him when they were teenagers) and great grandmother (who suffers from Alzheimer’s, and is in and out of lucidity; she can also be found traipsing in the neighbourhood in her underwear [or less] and having puppies under the table). Other supporting characters include Sabrina, Jimmy’s co-worker who he is secretly in love with, and Shelly, who runs a day care centre for dogs, babies and old people.

Rizzoli and Isles: A series with two female title characters? Wow! Is it for real? Boston Police Department’s Detective Jane Rizzoli and medical examiner Dr. Maura Isles team up to solve grisly crimes. Rizzoli is the no-nonsense, rough-and-ready type of person, while Isles is of above-average intelligence, with a tendency to take everything literally and takes great pleasure in being impeccably dressed. The two women share a close friendship, something that sometimes helps and sometimes hinders them. There is also some pretty obvious lesbian subtext rife in the series. Unfortunately, the plots are extremely flimsy, but it is fun to watch nevertheless since a serious serial about two women is such a novelty.

The Good Wife: Alicia Florrick is the eponymous character, who returns to work as a junior associate at a law firm after her husband, a former state’s attorney, is jailed following sex and corruption charges. But it has been a long time since Alicia flexed her lawyerly muscles, having taken years off to be a good wife and mother to aforementioned husband and two children, so she has her share of hiccups on the way. The fact that she is the wife of a discredited public figure adds to the complications. Alicia has to negotiate her way in a cut-throat profession, often needing to elbow fellow junior associate Cary Agos aside and be pushed away in turn. While intelligence and common sense gets her along at work, at home she has to figure out exactly how to give her two children a normal life.